Premier Pallister pushed to define 'front-line' jobs
NDP asks how government will protect front-line workers as it looks for $50M in savings
The Manitoba government was pressed in the legislature to back up its promise to protect front-line workers by actually specifying what it considers to be a front-line worker.
The Progressive Conservatives announced this week that the province's financial situation is worse than the previous NDP-led government revealed. The PCs say Manitoba is facing a $1.012-billion deficit and it's promising to find $50 million in savings.
Premier Brian Pallister declared on the first day of the election campaign earlier this year that he believes "there are no sacred cows" when it comes to cutting government spending. But four days before the election, the PCs said a Tory government would "protect front-line services and the jobs of the workers who deliver them."
On Thursday, the NDP demanded Pallister explain who those people are, so they know if their jobs are safe.
"Could the premier please let us know, what exactly is his definition of a front-line worker?" the NDP's Matt Wiebe asked.
Pallister said it's "difficult" and superfluous to provide a detailed list to the NDP.
"We've got hundreds and hundreds of job classifications. You want to get into a defining of a front-line worker? I think it's a mugs game," Pallister said.
"I think we all have a sense of who front-line workers are."
Added health Minister Kelvin Goertzen: "We'll ensure that the system is protected and respected today as well as for the children and grandchildren of the future, Madame Speaker."
Pallister said the NDP are continuing to play the politics of fear, which the party started during the latter half of the election campaign as polls made it clear they were falling behind in popularity.
"Trying to frighten people in the civil service seems to be the game the NDP want to play. They've been playing it for years, they've been playing it badly and they got rewarded for playing it badly in the last election," he said.
Pallister did say a hospital wait time review he promised in the election could be organized by the fall and certainly no later than Christmas.